fellow

scientist

epidemiologist

public health advisor

public health analyst

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

I spent 4 years as an ORISE Fellow at CDC immediately following grad school and it definitely was not what I expected. It wasn't horrifying, but it wasn't the great, career building/changing experience I was expecting. It was decidedly mediocre. Unfortunately, the supervisory and mentorship aspects of the fellowship was neglected. There was very little planning as far as my projects were concerned and no one was really concerned with any sort of learning or career development even when I initiated discussion. I believe all of my mentors/supervisors had the best of intentions, but none of them actually knew how to be mentors or supervisors. There was never any discussion of the career or skills I had prior to starting at CDC (I worked in my field in the private sector for nearly 8 years before going to grad school) or any discussion of goals or plans I had after my fellowship. I learned the FTE application process on my own because none of my mentors or supervisors explained it to me or really had any concern about whether I found an FTE position. I also found most of the trainings and educational experiences on my own. As my fellowship closed, the only interest in my future was whether or not I was looking for a job. Several of the other ORISE Fellows I know who were hired at the same time I was have similar stories.

I think my CDC experience would have been far better in any of the other fellowships CDC offers (PMF, Associate/Senior Service, APHA, Prevention Effectiveness, etc) but ORISE Fellows are essentially contractors, not fellows. Other fellowships require a certain amount of formal guidance, training, career development, etc. This is not true for the ORISE Fellowship. It is completely dependent upon how your mentors/supervisors decide to handle your fellowship so some fellows get more direction and support, others get none. Similar things occur with teleworking agreements and time off. Some supervisors allow regular teleworking and huge amounts of time off, others would never let a fellow out of their sight for more than the 2 weeks stated in the contract with ORISE.

My advice to other older graduate students who have work experience, a traditional federal government contractor situation will offer far better pay and definitely more ownership over your projects and career than an ORISE Fellowship will.

The Public Health Associate program is a two-year paid training program offered by the CDC, and it is amazing for recent graduates to jump-start a career in public health. Duty stations are located across the country, and you are assigned to a site as a field worker, with the potential to work in a variety of public health service areas (depending on your assignment). You do not have a say in your program area or location, but if you are flexible, open-minded, and able to relocate, it is a great opportunity. 

The experience is what you make of it--the more your host site sees of your work ethic and capabilities, the more potential to grow in the position. My experience, for example, has included developing a program from scratch, and I went on to implement and manage that program for the first year of my program. After proving my skills, my second year I went on to help manage two other programs and have had the opportunity not only to do programmatic work, but also have had the chance to work with clients from the community. I have learned so much about HIV prevention and care services and public health strategies to help increase access and equity for community members. To succeed in this position, you must be flexible, driven, and dedicated to your work. 

Workplace culture varies greatly and depends upon where you are assigned. I was assigned to a local public health agency that has an amazing workplace culture that has been very supportive of my goals and growth. 

The hardest part of the job is managing two different entities--the CDC (mostly admin tasks) and your host site, which likely has different processes than the CDC. It can be a bit annoying dealing with all of the CDC "red tape."

The best part of the job is getting a chance to learn everyday! Hands-on learning is, in my opinion, the best way to learn. Making connections with colleagues at your host site is a great way to learn about different areas of your department and find mentors who can help guide you as you begin to shape your career. If you put in the work, it pays off.

A Typical Day at Work:
A typical day at the CDC is mission-driven and often fast-paced, depending on your role. For many, it starts with reviewing data, meeting with interdisciplinary teams, and working on public health projects or outbreak investigations. There’s a balance of research, strategy meetings, and sometimes fieldwork or public communication.

What You Believe You Learned:
Working at the CDC teaches you how complex and interconnected global health systems are. I gained a deeper understanding of epidemiology, crisis response, and the importance of clear communication during emergencies. It also instills a sense of responsibility—your work impacts lives on a massive scale.

Management:
Management can vary by department, but generally, leadership is composed of experienced professionals who are passionate about public health. Some teams have incredibly supportive and visionary leaders, while others may struggle with bureaucracy, especially during high-pressure moments like pandemics.

Workplace Culture:
The culture is driven by science, integrity, and service. People are highly dedicated, collaborative, and mission-focused. However, because it's a federal agency, there are layers of red tape that can sometimes stifle innovation or slow down processes.

The Hardest Part of the Job:
The most challenging aspect is dealing with the pressure and urgency during public health emergencies—like COVID-19 or Ebola. There's often limited time, evolving information, and high stakes. Also, navigating political influence while trying to maintain scientific integrity can be emotionally taxing.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The best part is knowing you're contributing to the greater good. Whether it’s controlling an outbreak or crafting guidance that helps protect millions, there’s a strong sense of purpose. Collaborating with passionate experts from around the world also makes the experience incredibly rewarding.

I was an intern there. I really enjoyed this job but one of my coworkers gave me very hard time. I feel this was because I was a young black male. This particular coworker was very nice towards the female interns but with me he did everything he could to get my supervisor to not renew my internship. He would get mad at me when I did not know how to perform a task(keep in mind that I was an INTERN.) I was working in the cyber security department at 8 Corporate Square Boulevard. 

The day I was told my internship was not being renewed I cried because it was a complete shock to me that I was blatantly lied to about why my internship not being renewed. My supervisor told me that "I mess up too much and nobody wants to give me work." Even though he himself had me work on a 1 last project before he told me that he was not going to renew my internship. I even had emails where my other coworkers were sending me tasks to complete before this event took place.

Also that same day my coworker whom gave me a hard time came into my office with a grin on his face because HE KNEW of the bad news that I had gotten. He then sat on the other computer in my office and pretended to work on something when HE NEVER EVER comes down to my office for anything out of my entire time I was there. I believe he came to my office that day to agitated me. He would not tell me that I was doing something wrong instead he would go directly to my supervisor and tell him that I was messing something up. I feel like this was very unfair to me. If you are going to work here make sure you step up any say something if you DO NOT UNDERSTAND. 


Why would you not tell the intern out of all people that they are making mistakes? The point of being an intern is to learn which I did.

This is why I am on indeed looking for a new job right now as I write this review. I now have to got through the process of finding another internship in order to graduate.

Day to day running of the department is motivated by individual incentives and productive progression. I have learnt many skills such as:
Coaching and developing the team on how to meet and surpass all KPIs
Liaising with and establishing personal relationships with clients
Maintaining and expanding the database/CRM
Working closely with the Marketing team in developing promotions and events
Training and developing staff on product knowledge and progression
Maintaining first-rate customer service in order to maximize turnover and increase the profile of the Department.

I also:

Monitoring competitor sales figures & developing strong in-store business support within marketing increasing UPT.
Developing & maintaining the Customer Relations database.
Monitoring productivity, ensuring that the brand exceeds sales and focusing on KPI's in order to forfil its full potencial.

Building outfits ideas for the team and utilising effective sales techniques to encourage sales within my team.
Training and developing staff to company standard. Introducing individual sales based incentives to progress performance and team roles.
Collating sales data & information to present to staff in team briefings and daily info.
Leading team meetings and feeding back information to Head Office, including weekly conference calls.
Responsibility for all administration and communication with Retail Ops extrically with other boutiques and intrinsically.
Actively planning & organising customer events & promotions.
Planning and delegating staff appropriately.

If you're aiming to impact the public health of the nation and develop key partnerships to influence health abroad, then the CDC is for you.  The organization boasts opportunities to develop and exercise key skills in program planning, policy analysis, evaluation, and laboratory science.  The organization also provides opportunities for those with fiscal and administrative skills to contribute to program functioning. Some people consider work to be a part of the "calling" on their lives while others view work as a means to providing for their families.  You'll find that both types of people work at CDC.  The key to managing employee relationships is to understand these differing motivations and highlight - clearly and consistently - expectations for work and performance.   Some CDC leaders should learn how to do this better.  The most enjoyable  part of the job is being on the frontlines of pressing and emerging health concerns.   The hardest part of the job is dealing with government processes - which can be slow and onerous - and waiting on Congress to prioritize specific health concerns so that there's funding to do the work that needs to be done.   I've learned a lot about writing technical reports, sharing information with stakeholders, developing and executing program implementation plans, and managing up to supervisors who don't always have a good understanding of what's happening outside of the brass walls of CDC.

Working at CDC gives you the opportunity to do meaningful, varied work that positively impacts people's lives. You work with people from all levels of the public and private sectors, and have many opportunities to get involved in projects outside of your normal day-to-day work. This job entails a mix of computer work and client engagement, so you're not necessarily stuck behind a desk all day.  You are paid very well for a public health job, with excellent benefits. There are loads of internal training opportunities and guest speaker presentations so you always have the opportunity to learn something new. I couldn't ask for better coworkers, either. 

However, the on-call expectations are onerous and negatively impact your work-life balance. Depending on your job role, your ability to telework or work flexibly is heavily restricted. Unless you work in Atlanta, lateral and advanced career moves are extremely difficult. You become pigeon-holed into a job role and it's nearly impossible to move into a different job role without starting over in a lower position with much lower pay. CDC offers a lot of job training opportunities, but no budget for paid career training, so your options are limited to free in-house or external options. Additionally, in-house training programs don't help transition into a new role. 

I was originally recruited to serve as the director of a national epidemiology project on Cervical cancer and Cytology Screening. However, one year into this the Director redirected my mission to be responsible for responding to a mandate from Washington that we develop the first ever " Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act" ,Guidelines for the nations cytology laboratories, guidelines they would  have to follow to maintain their certifications.This was achieved through forming partnerships with each of the 12 national professional organizations that deal with one aspect or another of obtaining, reading or responding to the PAP Smear. Two national meetings were held and 24 various national Society meetings were attended. We also formed partnerships with HCFA and NIH, but i had to visit their headquarters to ask for an additional 3 months, for time  so we could assemble these meetings. I served as the moderator at each meeting., and received a PHS award for these efforts.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The mission of public health is a worthy ficus and is fulfilling.  You'll be at the forefront of major health threats and emergency responses. Many smart and interesting people. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Bureaucracy, politics, controlling leaders, leadership by fear sniffles innovation, constant changes and reorganization.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment differs by the national center or office you work in, as well as your supervisor's style.  Generally,  the organizational policies and messaging are supportive but in practice lots of challenges.  Hispanic professionals underrepresented .  CDC is a bureaucracy and lots of rules and red tape.  But the work is exciting and improving public health outcomes very fulfilling.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Meetings, e-mails, phone calls, and lots of advise on getting things done.  Best days are when working directly with the field or on a team working on a product or process.

The best part of my job at CDC was knowing that I was contributing to the greater good by addressing a number of public health problems. The hardest part of my job was when public health became politicized over the last decade. Public health should only be used to address the issues essential to address public health problems. A typical day of work included writing, interacting with multiple agencies and working closely with a strong team of collaborative and congenial scientists that shared the same vision. Over my 25 years of working as an epidemiologist I learned how to develop surveillance systems that provide information we need to address the public health issues affecting the people we serve. I also learned how important it is to be able to work across agencies and with people who have different backgrounds to do our best as public health servants. I learned that the best management practice is to understand, acknowledge, and appreciate the important contributions that each team member provides. Team work is critical to make the best of our hard work. My job at the CDC was the job I wanted and the job I loved.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Fellow 9 salaries reported	$68,030 per year
Scientist 12 salaries reported	$117,128 per year
Epidemiologist 13 salaries reported	$112,391 per year
Public health advisor 6 salaries reported	$97,833 per year
Public health analyst 10 salaries reported	$105,411 per year

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